Camp Nou

We went to another football match last night, and it was amazing. Barcelona is the best team in the world, and they play at one of the most famous stadiums in the world. They also have the best player in the world, Lionel Messi.

The stadium, called Camp Nou, is huge. It was filled to the brim on Tuesday night for a match against AC Milan in the champions league. The champions league is a tournament featuring the best club teams from the many leagues all over Europe. This was the second match of a 2-match series. They simply add up all the goals over the games to determine the winner. Milan was ahead 2-0 after the first match, so Barca was in a tough situation, and needed a big win to advance.

We arrived early to soak in the atmosphere.

Sam got a new scarf

As the game got closer, the stadium continued to become more crowded. We were seated in an area pretty close the corner into which they packed the Milan fans, maybe 6 sections of them, but they were all together, and they spoke and sang with one voice. Of course, we rarely understood what they said, but several times the Barca fans raised their voices in protest.

They do some funny theatrics right before the games in the champions league, including the champions league anthem.

The Champions

Eventually, the game actually began, and not long after, the place went totally nuts when Messi scored the first goal. Game on!

The next segment of the game featured a lot of action, but no goals. Barca almost scored immediately after the first, and Milan nearly struck back on a counter, hitting the post. Then with five minutes left in the first half, Messi stuck again. We went to half time even over the series.

The second half was full of tension, but Barca eventually took the lead on a goal by David Villa. Due to the tiebreak rules in the champions league, Milan could still win with one goal, so the last 25 minutes were as nervous as it can get. Any time Milan had the ball, regardless of where on the field it was, or how they they had it, all of the fans booed, hissed, and whistled.

Barca eventually hung on to win, adding a very late goal for good measure. It was an awesome experience, and we both had a great time.

Visca Barça!